DragSail

The DragSail is our main payload of our COMPASS 2 satellite and our main experiment:

With COMPASS 2 we like to test if the DraSail technology can be used to reduce space debris for small satellites like cubesats.

The DragSail technology was fully developed and tested by students and will be used on the COMPASS 2 satellite for the first time to reduce the time the satellite needs to deorbit. In this case the duration will be reduced from 25 years to 15 days.

The DragSail that will be used on COMPASS 2 has a surface area of 1,8m². A successful testing of this technology could be interesting for future cubesats because there is a restriction in place that a satellite can just be in space up to 25 years after operations is finished. With the use of a DragSail that restriction could be met by more small satellites even in higher orbits.